The present disclosure relates generally to sensing devices, and to methods for forming and using the sensing devices.
Since the inception of semiconductor technology, a consistent trend has been toward the development of smaller device dimensions and higher device densities. As a result, nanotechnology has seen explosive growth and generated considerable interest. Nanotechnology is centered on the fabrication and application of nano-scale structures, or structures having dimensions that are often 5 to 100 times smaller than conventional semiconductor structures. Nanowires are included in the category of nano-scale structures.
Nanowires are wire-like structures having at least one linear dimension ranging from about 3 nm to about 200 nm. Nanowires are suitable for use in a variety of applications, including functioning as conventional wires for interconnection applications or as semiconductor devices. Nanowires are also the building blocks of many potential nano-scale devices, such as nano-scale field effect transistors (FETs), p-n diodes, light emitting diodes (LEDs) and nanowire-based sensors, to name a few. Nanowire based sensors often include multiple probes or electrodes operatively connected to nanowires, resulting in sensors that may be categorized as two or three terminal devices.